Claims Would Bankrupt Garcia Estate, Lawyers Say

The value of Jerry Garcia's estate is less than the nearly $38 million in claims filed against the late Grateful Dead guitarist, probate lawyers said yesterday.

"If all these claims were collected as filed, it would bankrupt the estate, I suspect," said Max Gutierrez, who is representing Garcia's widow, Deborah Koons Garcia.

Garcia, 53, died of heart failure last August while at a San Geronimo Valley drug treatment facility.

Gutierrez and other lawyers appearing in Marin County Superior Court yesterday said that royalties from Garcia's music and merchandise based on his artwork, among other things, could add substantially to the estate.

The lawyers said the total worth of Garcia's estate is still not known. To help sort out the royalty issues, attorney Robert Gordon, who worked on singer Janis Joplin's estate, has been hired as a consultant.

The two biggest claims against Garcia's estate are over the loss of anticipated profits from the sale of merchandise based on his art.

Garcia's personal manager, Vincent DiBiase, said he was supposed to take over management of the musician's art business. He claims in court documents that he will lose $15 million in profits on watches and jewelry that were to feature Garcia's designs.

Art agent Nora Sage of Bend, Ore., wants $12 million, saying Garcia's representatives are blocking her from selling scarves, suspenders, cummerbunds, vests and other items based on Garcia's art. Sage said in her claim that Garcia furnished her business, The Art Peddler, with about 180 works of art to sell and reproduce.

More than 20 claims were filed, including those by a former wife, a former girlfriend, and a bank that holds a home mortgage.

The estate's executor will decide whether to accept or reject the claims. Anyone whose claim is rejected has three months to file a lawsuit.

Garcia's will left most of his estate to his wife, four daughters and his brother.